On Saturday I journeyed to Zuccotti Plaza in New York City, site of the two-week-old Occupy Wall Street action. Occupy Wall Street began with a sit-in by a small group of college students—some still in their teens, others just beyond…
Author: lynmillerlachmann
Young Teens at War: A Review of Bamboo People
My review of Abe in Arms two weeks ago focused on the continuing struggles of a former child soldier in Liberia to overcome the trauma of a violent childhood. As Abraham Odo (his name before being adopted by the Elders…
Children as Combatants: A Review of Abe in Arms
At the end of October, some of us Pirate Tree-sitters will be gathering in person in Fresno, California for a panel at the USBBY conference, where we will explore the literature of children in wartime. Each of us will talk…
Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi
I’ve been thinking a lot about how citizens in a democracy come to support extremists in hard times, and whether they understand the consequences of extreme ideas and politicians who consider their opponents enemies deserving of elimination. A recent bestseller,…
In Trouble: The Past That May Become Our Future
Peter Marino’s thoughtful review of Ruth and the Green Book made me think of the 1950s—a time many people idealize as one of harmony and prosperity. Yet much of this harmony and prosperity was achieved through the exclusion and exploitation…
Family Secrets: A Review of A Time of Miracles
About a month ago, I saw the French Canadian film Incendies when it came to the Albany area. The film follows twins, a sister and brother, who live in Montreal. Following the death of their Lebanese-born mother, they receive a…
Crossover Dreams: A Review of Dragon Chica
Reading Ann Angel’s review of Carlos Eire’s memoir Learning to Die in Miami—and then reading the book itself—got me thinking about the crossover genre, books originally published for adults that have found a wide audience of teens, or books published…
How This Girl Is Different
By the time I graduated high school, I had gained notoriety as the school nonconformist, so much so that my graduation year the faculty decided to replace the Valedictorian with the Most Representative Student. As a result, a popular and…
Blog Tour: The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
When I started teaching high school social studies in New York City, I shared a classroom with the bilingual social studies teacher, and we soon became friends. Born in Puerto Rico, he moved to New York City as a toddler,…
In the Mainstream: Huntress
What would it be like to live in a world in which gay and lesbian relationships are treated as normal and we can choose partners of either gender without prejudice? Malinda Lo asked this question of readers in her acclaimed…